Thought for the Day

21 JAN 26

20 JAN 26

19 JAN 26

17 JAN 26

Good morning. There is deep sadness in Tehran and other Iranian cities today as more that 2,500 dead are mourned and it appears that the regime is in control of the streets again. It looks as though the brave attempt of the protestors to bring about change has ended in nothing but more cruel repression. It must be easy to lose heart, not just here but in so many places of the world, and to think that things will always go on in much the same way. So it is good to remind ourselves that things can change. I did not think Apartheid would end without civil war but in 1994 a democratic government was elected in South Africa. I did not think the cold war would end in my lifetime but in 1989 the Berlin wall came tumbling down, whilst in 1979 in Iran the Shah was toppled suddenly and surprisingly. But for those suffering it always seems so long. In the last book of the Bible, written when Christians were being killed for their faith, the author pictures them sheltering under the altar, crying out ‘How long O Lord?’ – how long before justice is established. A cry that goes up every day.
In response to this cry Jesus told one of his surprising stories. A woman who had a legal case against someone kept pestering a hard hearted judge. The judge had no sympathy for the woman and kept sending her away. Eventually he could stand it no longer and granted what she wanted. Jesus told the story to urge us not to give up. However hopeless things appear we are not to cease to pray and work for a world which is just. We are not simply to resign ourselves to things always being as they are now. I love the words of the American playwright Tennessee Williams. He said:
I've met many people that seemed well-adjusted, but …I'm not sure I would want to be well-adjusted to things as they are. I would prefer to be racked by desire for things better than what they are, even for things which are unattainable, than to be satisfied with things as they are.
Those words always bring to my mind one of the Beatitudes of Jesus ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst that right might prevail’. Hunger and thirst are strong words but they reflect the longing of those not only in Iran but in so many places of the world where people are suffering - and the longing of those who stand in solidarity with them.